The invention relates to a pop-up mechanism and a PC card having it, in particular to a pop-up mechanism and a PC card having it with a pop-up unit (which is stored in a stored position of the main body) to expand to the outside by elasticity and be retained at the position.
In connecting peripheral equipment to a note-type personal computer, as illustrated in the FIG. 14, the PC card 50 is installed in the PC card slot 62, which is provided in the note-type personal computer 60, and the peripheral equipment (not illustrated) is connected through the PC card 50. In recent years, a PC card for the wireless LAN is installed in the note-type personal computer and the note-type personal computer is used in the wireless LAN.
As shown in the FIG. 13, the conventional PC card for the wireless LAN 50 is manufactured covered both sides with a metallic shield cover 52 to protect a substrate inside the card and also to shield electronic devices such as semiconductors equipped with the substrate from outside electromagnetic waves. And an antenna of antenna portion 54, which receives and sends the radio wave, is not able to do so (receives and sends the radio wave) when located in the position where it is covered by the metallic shield. For this reason, the antenna portion 54 is always built in a way to stick out of an end of a thin-boarded main body of a PC card 56. Consequently, the antenna portion 54 always sticks out of the PC card slot 62, so that the antenna portion 54 can be hit or exerted with an external force in carrying the note-type personal computer. Still more, the antenna portion 54 equipped in this way doesn""t look nice.
So, as illustrated in the FIG. 10(A) and the FIG. 10(B), a PC card 61 which makes an antenna unit 63 possible to be kept in a storage part for antenna unit 65 equipped in the main body of a PC card 62 by manufacturing the main body of the PC card 62 and the antenna unit 63 as separate parts is designed. In this PC card 61, the antenna unit 63 which is stored in the storage part 65 equipped in the main body of the PC card 62 expands to the outside by the elasticity of a coil-like spring 64 (which is illustrated in the FIG. 11) to be retained at the designated position. At the same time, the antenna unit 63 is pushed and goes back to be retained in the state of being stored in the storage part.
That is, as illustrated in the FIG. 12, in the conventional mechanism, a heart-cam 67 is formed at the side of the antenna unit 63 sticking out from the main body of the PC card 62, and an end of a mobile shaft in a crank shape 68 is fixed to the side of the main body of the PC card 62 with the other end is to be related to the heart-cam 67. And because of a plate-like string 69 whose end is fixed to the side of the main body of the PC card 62, the tip of the mobile shaft 68 is prevented from seceding from the heart-cam 67. Therefore, the antenna unit 63 is able to send and receive the radio wave at the position it expanded to against the main body of the PC card 62 by expanding to outside of the radio wave shield material of the main body of the PC card 62.
In such conventional mechanism, the longer groove of the heart-cam 67 has to be shaped longer so as to make the length to expand the antenna unit 63 longer than now.
However, when the longer groove is lengthen, the heart-cam 67 which is at the side of the antenna unit 63 also sticks out from inside to outside of the main body of the PC card 62 if the antenna unit 63 is expanding. If a part of the mechanism appears to outside, the mechanism can be damaged or wrongly operated. And if the user operates it wrongly, an accident can happen. Still more, the appearance of the mechanism to outside doesn""t look nice.
So this invention presents a pop-up mechanism whose pop-up unit can expand longer than the conventional PC cards without the appearance of the mechanism outside and a PC card having it.
The invention to solve the mentioned problem is characterized in that in the pop-up mechanism in which the pop-up unit stored in the storage part formed with the frame in the main body expands the outside by the elasticity to be retained at the designed position and at the same time it is pushed to go back to be retained in the state of being stored in the storage part, a heart-cam is formed along the direction of the expanding and receding of the pop-up unit inside the frame and at the same time, a locking plate having a locking pin which circulate endlessly in the groove of the heart-cam as the pop-up unit expands and recedes is fixed as it can sway in the storage part of the locking plate which is formed at the side of the pop-up unit.
The heart-cam is formed in the side of the frame and the locking plate having the locking pin which circulate endlessly in the groove of the heart-cam is formed at the side of the pop-up unit which is a mobile body moving relatively.
The invention to solve the mentioned problem is characterized in that in the pop-up mechanism, the dropping off preventing part is formed as a cantilever behind the locking plate of storage part of the locking plate and it prevents the locking pin from running off the groove of the heart-cam.
The invention to solve the mentioned problem is characterized in that in the pop-up mechanism, the locking pin isn""t formed at the center of the locking plate.
The heart-cam is to sway with as small swinging angle as possible.
The invention to solve the mentioned problem is characterized in that in the pop-up mechanism, the pop-up unit is to expand outside by the elasticity of a coil spring. The coil spring is installed to the supporting pin which is fixed to the frame along the direction of the expanding and receding of the pop-up unit and inserted not to run off in a guide groove whose section is in about the shape of the letter xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d and whose tip is formed in at the pop-up unit, and the supporting pin is formed having enough length so that its tip reaches to the guide groove in the pop-up unit when the pop-up unit is retained at the expanded position.
The invention to solve the mentioned problem is characterized in that in the PC card having the pop-up mechanism, the pop-up unit is stored in the storage part formed in a thin plate-like main body of the card (the most of the top and bottom parts of which is covered by the radio wave shield material). The pop-up unit goes back to be retained in the state of being stored in the storage by pushing in the pop-up unit. The heart-cam is formed inside the frame along the direction of the expanding and receding of the pop-up unit and a locking plate having a locking pin which circulates endlessly in the groove of the heart-cam as the pop-up unit expands and recedes is fixed as it can sway in the storage part of the locking plate which is formed at the side of the pop-up unit.
This invention is possible to obtain further advantageous changes and refinements in the scope of the claims without deviating from the spirit of invention. The present invention includes these changes and refinements.